Inspiration and the Universe Conspire (to help me create a new story)

We were out of town this weekend, spending as much time as possible with my wife's sister, who is undergoing a bone marrow transplant and more chemo in Birmingham. She slept quite a lot, off and on, and I caught up on some Kindle reading, as well as browsing more than I usually do. I started reading a steampunk novel sample (not too good, so I'm not naming it), and decided to check out a sample of a writing guide for people interested in steampunk (also not so good, but whatever, by this time, my brain was engaged).

On the drive home today, we passed a sign pointing to the exit for two nearby towns, Jemison and Thorsby, and I said, "That's a great character name. Jemison Thorsby, a reporter for the Confederate Statesmen paper out of Atlanta in 1870, two years after the Civil War ended in an uneasy truce."

Soon, we passed a sign for two more towns. "Clanton Montgomery," I said. "Former colonel in the Alabama militia. Hero of the Battle of Birmingham. Now a soldier of fortune operating out of the Republic of Texas."

We passed a sign for two more towns. "Coosada Wetumpka," I thought (as by this time my wife was trying to nap). "A Creek Indian. Father was a Red Stick warrior. He works for Montgomery, and is on the train from the free port of New Orleans to Port Arthur when he meets Thorsby."

I began to think about Thorsby more. He's a reporter, dispatched to get the story on Montgomery, who has been making expeditions into the Plains Nations, where the tribes are armed with electrostatic weapons, dirigibles, and steam-powered cannon-carriages to keep the interlopers off their lands. They have a mysterious benefactor that is designing these breakthroughs, and the U.S. government is secretly bankrolling Montgomery's excursions.

On the train, Thorsby sees a beautiful black woman in the company of two white men. She is clearly rich, clearly a free woman, but one of the men is threatening her. The woman glances at Thorsby on several occasions. Later, in the dining car, Thorsby sees the man slap the woman, and he goes to their table to warn the man not to strike a lady. She speaks to him in a lyrical French accent, "I do not require your assistance, little man." I could hear her voice in my imagination.

Only then does he recognize her. But what is her name?

A moment later, I passed a sign for a place called Legrande. That's certainly French-ish. So her name is LeGrande, but that's only a stage name. What's her first name? What's her real name? I pass a sign for a place called Cleo. Her stage name is Cleopatra LeGrande, she's a famous chanteuse, the toast of Paris, but he knew her when they were children. She was a house servant at the same estate where his father was a stable hand. Her name was...

I passed a sign for a place called Ada. He knew her by that name in their childhood, and he would often offer to help Ada with her chores, but she would always say, "I don't need your help, Little Man."

So what happens when they reach Port Arthur? And then onward to Beaumont, and all across to Amarillo? What happens when they cross the border into "Injun Country," as Wetumpka sneeringly calls it, and they face the dirigible fleet of the United Tribes under the command of Touch the Clouds (a character who I had in mind, but not by name until I happened to do a search for "native American leaders" and found this list)?

What otherworldly monstrosity waits in Roswell? What is "the Breach" and why must it be "Repaired"?

(I wondered that when I passed a sign on a country church that declared they were "Repairers of the Breach." (Don't look that up, because it will depress you.))

The sunset was fiery red as we passed through a string of small Alabama towns. Signs and portents in the sky. The iPod began playing a song about a woman traveling back in time, and I knew I had my answers...

...And that is how a story begins to take shape in my head.

Peace.

The Story behind 'Dragon Rising'

Cover by Jayson Kretzer

I have a new book available through Kindle and soon in print via Amazon's CreateSpace. "Dragon Rising" is the first of a projected series about The Shadow War, and like many of my recent works, it has been incubating for decades. I wrote the initial outline for the story in the early 1990s, when it seemed like there would never be new additions to the Star Wars trilogy, and I wanted a space opera-type story.

The first real work on it came in the latter 1990s, as Phantom Menace hyperbole began to take over the geek world in anticipation of the first prequel to Star Wars. I wrote it with my children in mind, who were at the time not yet in their teens; I made the protagonist, Kit Tanner, a 15-year-old from a backwater world and set him in dangerous situations that he had to think his way out of, and be brave, and be true.

A few years ago, I set about updating the novella I wrote for them and tried submitting it to various publishers. I even rewrote it to appeal to the Christian market at one point, pumping up the philosophical aspects and religious questions, as well as Kit's faith. Still no nibbles. In this most recent rewrite, I believe I kept the best of both versions. You be the judge (please, I'd love to read your reviews at Amazon.com!).

A funny thing happened on the way to publication, however. I asked my friend, Jayson Kretzer (creator of the Wannabe Heroes comic) to do a cover for the book. When he sent me the early version, uncolored, I had to ask him who one of the characters was. He identified the female as "Oracle," a robot or "mech" in the story. I replied that Oracle was never described as female, and in fact was referred to as "it" throughout the narrative; he said when he read the character's dialogue he "heard" a woman's voice. He offered to change the art, but his response made me rethink some of the passages in the story. It became clear to me that Oracle was in many ways a maternal care-giving and peacemaking figure that was missing from the story at that point, and I wondered how Kit was react to Oracle differently if "it" had the outer aspect and voice of a "she." So, another rewrite took place, one that is still having ripple effects on the subsequent storyline. We retained his interpretation, which informed (and in ways, transformed) the story.

That's what happens when you collaborate.

Dragon Rising will be followed later this year by Dragon Rampant, as the Shadow War breaks out in earnest. I also have in mind to do a sort of Federal Encyclopedia, with technical and historical info about the universe in which Kit Tanner lives. After Dragon Rampant, if there's clamor for further adventures, I anticipate a third tale, and more to follow.

I hope you'll read Dragon Rising, or read it to your kids, or buy it for some youngster you know. Let me know what worked for you, what you want more of, or less of. I'm working on the first sequel now, and your feedback would be invaluable. Collaborate in the Shadow War, if you dare to challenge the Dragon.

Peace.

An adventure in mind

Me, shot by Andrew Wardlow

PANAMA CITY BEACH — It was a weird weekend, but that’s why I’m thankful for it.

Friday night, I enjoyed watching “An Adventure inSpace and Time,” the dramatic story of the creation and evolution of the British TV series, “Doctor Who.” That was followed on Saturday afternoon by joining the millions of viewers who tuned into the worldwide simulcast of the Doctor’s 50th anniversary special, “The Day of the Doctor.”

(For those still in the dark, “Who” premiered on the BBC the night after JFK’s assassination and it has continued in one form or other ever since. I discovered the show in the early 1980s when WSRE in Pensacola ran episodes featuring Tom Baker as the Doctor.)

Kendra Wardlow

Saturday evening, I loaned my sonic screwdriver (the Doctor’s trusty all-purpose instrument) to a friend for a photo shoot focusing on some geek iconography, including “Who” and the late, lamented “Firefly.”

Just before that, I had participated in a photo shoot involving smoke, flames and a face-full of flour tossed with glee from off-camera by people I thought I could trust. In the background, a child ran around wearing a Buzz Lightyear costume.

All in all, a pretty fun way to spend an evening.

But it set me to thinking, as I am prone to attempt, about the connections. Buzz’s catchphrase — “To infinity and beyond!” — would not be out of place on “Doctor Who,” where the adventures break all the rules of time and space in service to a good story, and the Doctor is apt to shout “Geronimo!” before leaping into action.

Buzz, of course, was a hero of the “Toy Story” movies, and what were we doing with the sonic screwdriver and T-shirts sporting sci-fi and comic emblems but playing with toys and wearing costumes? (The subject — as you might recall if you’ve been paying attention recently — of my column that appeared in The News Herald only a day before this photo shoot took place.)

Brady with Sparkler

Projecting my thoughts into the near future using that timey-wimey device called imagination, I realized that one of the things I would be giving thanks for on Thursday was to have days like this one in my metaphorical pocket: Friends gathered around a fire pit, doing something creative and silly, sharing our geekdom in an explosion of flour and smoke.

It was a simple thing on the surface, ephemeral even, but I feel certain I will draw this one out like a holiday ornament in years to come and marvel that it actually occurred; I was there when this happened.

And a final thought that connects along the flimsiest of circumstances: While flicking a borrowed lighter to ignite some sparklers by the pit, I recalled the words of actor John Hurt; in the “Who” anniversary special, he plays an incarnation of the ever-changing Doctor and states that, “Great men are forged in fire. It is the privilege of lesser men to light the flame.”

The words were fresh in my brain, and though the lighter sputtered and died in the night breeze, I thought, “My privilege, indeed.”

Happy Thanksgiving.

---

(This is my Undercurrents column for PanamaCity.com and The News Herald this week.)

Trick question: Are you a ‘geek’ or a ‘nerd’

Creative Con 2011 File Photo

PANAMA CITY — If you visit Creative Con on Saturday, be kind to the geeks (or possibly the nerds). 

These are my people, but sometimes I don’t know what to call us.

I say tomayto, you say tomahto.

In the olden days of the 1970s-80s, at least where I grew up, the term for the outsider kid was “nerd.” We probably picked it up from “Happy Days,” which is where I first heard it used. It referred to someone a bit weird, socially awkward, with an intense interest in something outside the mainstream (most often, sci-fi or comics).

Today, the accepted term for that seems to be “geek.” There’s even a magazine by that name which focuses on imaginative media, including TV and movies, games, books and comics, costuming and more. The words would appear to be almost interchangeable.

Except, they aren’t.

I wondered at first if it’s like the difference between a “Trekkie” and a “Trekker.” The former is a derogatory name mundanes started calling people who were Star Trek fans way back in the 1970s. The latter is how some fans self-identified.

But according to one scientific study widely disseminated on the interwebs, geeks are more social fans and collectors of stuff, while nerds are less social idea people. Geeks would feel the need to defend their interests, while nerds wouldn’t really care what a non-nerd thought.

Jayson Kretzer, organizer of Creative Con, said both terms have taken on a more positive connotation in recent years.

“Geek is now a more broad and socially accepted term for anybody who really gets into something like technology, comics, gaming, cosplay or anything you can get into that a decade ago would’ve set you apart or had you viewed as socially inept,” he said. “Funny thing is that it’s basically become cool and mainstream to be a geek — computer geek, comic geek, geek girl, etc. Too bad this movement wasn’t around 15-20 years ago.”

Meanwhile, Jayson added: “ ‘Nerd’ seems to be directed at people who are acting punchy, goofy or silly, as in ‘You’re such a nerd,’ she said to me when I asked her to dance in Klingon. Both can be directed at intelligent, socially inept folks, but geek is the more positive version, in my opinion.”

I asked my Facebook friends (some of whom I actually know in the “real” world) what they thought the difference was, and whether or not they self-identified as either one. Here are a few responses (you can see more of them in the online version of this column at PanamaCity.com):

Brian: "Nerd=book learning. Geek=passionate about a non-mainstream subject."

Anthony (who tends to be an outlier on the Bell Curve): "Geeks bite the heads off chickens. Nerds are candy. I identify myself as a Starfleet Jedi mugician (musician+magician) driving a Delorian-shaped Tardis. I’m also a writer."

Kathy: "To me, a nerd is a book smart, computer savvy person, and a geek is someone who just does not fit in to what people see as the social mores. I happen to like both nerds and geeks. I may be one, except the computer savvy part!"

James: "There is no real difference. Both are smart, both like games and comics. I think nerd used to refer to someone that studied and got good grades. Today it seems that both terms have merged into the super geeky nerd title and are now all-powerful within the fantasy realm. People are and should be proud of who they are. When I was younger, being called a nerd or geek was pretty degrading, but now I’m proud to be called one."

Renee: "I always think of a nerd as someone who is book smart but a bit too aloof to connect with mainstream. A geek on the other hand is really excited about knowledge, but is able to plug it into context and have fun with it. Or something like that. Nerds are boring; geeks are cool. I think I have a geeky streak."

Mark: "I think the basic difference is that geeks tend to be fans of a subject or a thing while nerds tend to be more practitioners of the thing they’re interested in. … I feel like those terms have, at least in common usage, lost a great deal of their differentiation. But if we were to go with them being different, and in the way that I have described above, I’d say that I’m a geek that’s trying to turn himself into a nerd."

Dustin: "I see nerds as people like me, who are into video games, comic books and action figures, and get excited by their fandom. A nerd’s fandom holds no bounds. Society used to make fun of them, but oddly enough, all those nerdy things suddenly became popular. When I was 13, people made fun of me for still liking Batman. Now at 27, liking Batman usually gets me more friends, so it is now considered cool to be a nerd.

" …Geeks, on the other hand, I associate with them being tech smart. Someone who is really good at using a computer and technology in general. There is a reason why Best Buy calls them ‘Geek Squad’ and not ‘Nerd Squad.’ I also see geeks as more science minded. So to sum up: Nerds typically have strong feelings to the things they like, and a Geek is has an expert intelligence level when it comes to technology and science.

"…And I do prefer to be called a video game nerd, action figure nerd or comic book nerd; if I fix your computer, you can then call me a geek."

Denise: "I see geeks as those who obsessively seek knowledge in narrow or singular fields. I think you can be a guitar geek, etc. My particular brand of nerdiness causes me to assign numbers to everything and quantify the oddest relationships. Red has always been three and purple is eight. I can prove that peaches are better than potato chips and have the numbers to back it up."

Chuck: "I identify as a geek with a hard side as evidenced by my job. (Tony notes: Chuck is a professional fire fighter — and my very first-ever friend.) I relish information of any type, though I have problems dumping it. My P.O. box combination from 35 years ago when I lived in Century? G J A B — see what I mean?"

Another Brian: "Potsie Webber=nerd. Farmer Ted=geek."

Another Chuck: "Geeks are obsessively knowledgeable about particular topics. Nerds are socially-awkward knowledge mavens. They are not mutually exclusive. But I self-identify as both."

**

Some will never accept a label, of course. Call me what you will. Particularly nerdy geeks might even know what I reference when I say, “I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.”

Peace. 

---

(This was my Undercurrents column for PanamaCity.com and The News Herald this week.)

Flashback Friday: Reviewing the 'Chronos' comic series

(I really miss this comic book. I'm an easy mark for time travel stories, and when they're done right I can't let go of them. I want to revisit them time after time (see what I did there?). I'd love to see Walker Gabriel show up in the current DC "New 52" universe. Anyway, here's my review of the series, Chronos, from the May 13, 1998 edition of The News Herald. This appeared in our "Generation NeXt" section, which often had comic book content.)

From BigRedHair.com

Catching up with 'Chronos'

Time is like light, according to Walker Gabriel.

"It's both a wave and a particle," he explains. "It can be diffused and reflected. The suit I'm wearing generates an energy field that bends time around me."

Walker is the not-too-bad bad guy — who just might turn out to be a hero after all — at the center of DC Comics' new monthly series, Chronos, about the rehabilitation of a time-traveling ne'er-do-well.

Writer John Francis Moore and penciller/co-creator Paul Guinan, joined by inker Steve Leialoha, have woven a tapestry of detailed characters, adventure and pseudo-science supported by artwork and pacing that bring disparate times and places to life with astonishing realism.

The first issue of Chronos was a dense mix of new and old DC characters and concepts. The second was less bewildering — Walker's misadventures trapped in 1873 in Smallville, Kansas, where he meets the Clark and Kent families and runs afoul of a Linear Man, one of the guardians of DC continuity, posing as a U.S. marshal.

(Think Back to the Future III meets The Terminator.)

By issue three — and the introduction of a devilish immortal who seems to have met Walker before — the weave of the storyline's tapestry begins to coalesce.

Walker's travels hold the promise of plenty of guest stars from DC history — from the weird West of Jonah Hex to the far future of the Legionnaires. Still, guest stars galore don't matter if there's not a strong character at the core — which, I think, Walker will come to be.

Perhaps the most appealing aspect of the story is his journey, not his destination. Walker is on a voyage of self-discovery, learning about how his past and future actions have (or, depending on the era, will have) affected people — and discovering the hero within the jaded young scientist.

The first glimmer of this greater man he will (did?) become is seen in issue one, when an older Walker materializes in time to save his younger self from a time-traveling enemy; his first real step toward heroism follows in issue two, when he plans to steal money from the family that gave him a home and a job — but his conscience won't let him.

Monthly from DC Comics
Highly recommended

-------

(Another note: The series lasted only 11 regular issues, plus a "1 million" issue as part of a DC crossover. It ended with Walker erasing himself from history (actually creating an alternative timeline) in order to save his mother's life. It had so much potential. >>Just check out this page, where Walker meets Martha and Jonathan Kent on a dark country road one night just before they see a rocket crashland <<)

>>Also, I recently compared an image from Doctor Who to a cover of Chronos in this blog.<<

Flashback Friday: Speaking with Sarek

(Once upon a time, I had a phone interview with Mark Lenard, the gentleman who played (among many other sci-fi roles) Sarek on the classic Star Trek series and films. He was soft-spoken and self-deprecating, and generous. He sent me three autographed photos (unasked) after the talk. This article appeared on Page 6B of The News Herald on Saturday, Feb. 28, 1995. Lenard died at age 72 on Nov. 22, 1996 of multiple myeloma.)

'Spock's father' energizes Trek-o-Rama

MarkLenard.com

For years, he served the Vulcan race as ambassador to the United Federation of Planets — and served more patriarchal duties as father to Star Trek's beloved Mr. Spock.

Now Ambassador Sarek makes his first official visit to Panama City as Mark Lenard, the actor who first brought Sarek to life more than 25 years ago, headlines today's Trek-O-Rama science fiction convention at the Marina Civic Center.

"Star Trek has been a big part of my life, off and on, ever since," Lenard said in a telephone interview from his New York home. "I can never really get away from it, and I'm always going to conventions and talking about it."

More mundane TV watchers will recognize Lenard's distinctive voice from advertisements for Saab, Maxwell House Coffee, Scope, BP Oil, CNN Crossfire and others. He has appeared in dozens of movies and TV series including The Greatest Story Ever Told, Annie Hall, Gunsmoke, and Planet of the Apes.

Lenard also applied his voice to the reading of Sarek and Federation, two best-selling Trek novels, for recent book-on-tape productions.

"Plus, I teach a class and I'm directing and playing in a film version of an opera — people will be pleased to hear it's a non-singing role," Lenard said. "And I'm writing, so I'm very busy now."

One of his major activities is a touring production of The Boys in Autumn, which guest stars Walter Koenig, another Trek alumnus.

Lenard as Sarek in 'Next Generation'

"We play Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn at middle age. Walter plays Tom and I play Huck," Lenard said. "It has great humor. They're two old curmudgeons, and it's quite moving. We've had good reception and we've been at it long enough to get very good at it."

Lenard said there were no plans to have him appear on the current incarnations of Star Trek, although he played Sarek and other alien characters in the original series, the cartoon spinoff, the movies and Next Generation.

The character of Sarek died in the latter series, in a scene in which he was suffering from a brain disease similar to Alzheimer's, in which his mind focuses on memories and unleashes the pent up emotions of a lifetime.

"I enjoyed it, although there was just the one scene," Lenard said. "But it was a little like King Lear, and I played it that way."

In his very first television work after moving to Hollywood, Lenard was cast as the Romulan commander in the classic Trek episode, Balance of Terror, a space adventure fashioned on a submarine warfare plotline. That work led to his casting as Sarek in the episode Journey to Babel, where his performance turned a one-shot character into a fan favorite.

Lenard as Sarek in 'Journey to Babel'

Lenard has definite feelings on the running "which Trek was best" question.

"I recently saw one of the old shows and it's far superior to the others, much more fun," he said. "It was the one about Apollo, and it had a few wrinkles in it that were not the best. But it was a great character show. That's what they did the best."

Lenard has never been a real fan of science fiction, except when it shifted focus from hardware and special effects to character development and emotion. And he never watched Star Trek until he started being invited to science fiction conventions.

"I started watching the show out of self-preservation, because people were asking me all these questions about it," he said.

But Lenard said he was pleased with his Star Trek affiliation.

"It's part of our culture now, and our language," he said. "It's an honest show. It stands for good things. And the theme, 'Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations' is just as applicable today."

Flashback Friday: Gigi Edgley Gives Back

(Once upon a time I got to sit down with actress Gigi Edgley in a semi-quiet corner of the Bay Point Mariott (now Wyndham) conference center. The former star of Farscape was in town as part of a sci-fi convention. She was lovely and charming and sweet, and genuinely enjoyed being there and meeting fans. (Unlike a couple of others who were there to make money by autographing stuff.) I got photos of her chatting with my friends Jayson Kretzer and Mattie Jankowski in the artists' room. (Though I couldn't locate those shots for this post.) Anyway, this interview ran in the News Herald's weekly Entertainer tab on June 12, 2008, the weekend following the event.)

Gigi Edgley Gives Back

Photo by Andrew Wardlow/The News Herald

Gigi Edgley thinks she may be on the verge of creating her own multimedia entertainment empire -- if she doesn't lose track of herself in the process.

"It's just been stunning, the adventures of the last sort of two or three months," she said. "I woke up this morning like, 'Where am I now?'"

The Australian actress, best known for her role as "Chiana" on the long-running Sci Fi Channel series Farscape, was in Panama City Beach recently. She was a featured guest at the "Wrath of Con" science fiction convention held at Marriott's Bay Point Resort.

Fans have kept Farscape alive since it went off the air in 2002. Their support helped revive it for a mini-series in 2005, and it is now advertised to return to SciFi.com later this year in the form of 10 all-new webisodes produced by the Jim Henson Co. (2013 edit: This web series never came to be.)

"I wanted to give something back," Edgley said, explaining why she attends these "cons" all over the world.

Edgley as 'Chiana'

Throughout the three-day Wrath of Con, Edgley mingled with fans in the vendor room, talked with artists, signed autographs, traded friendly barbs with fellow guests, and hit the dance floor during after-hours parties. One afternoon, she sat still for an interview in the lobby of the convention center, laughed easily, and showed off samples of her work.

She's now based in Los Angeles, but in recent weeks she has opened a film (Newcastle) at the Tribeca festival in New York; visited Biloxi, Miss., and Seattle, Wash., for more sci-fi conventions; shot a new movie in Louisiana; and made a stopover to see her family Down Under.

In the meantime, she has also been working on an album (the EP So it Seems is now available), written a comic book (Blue Shift) and a graphic novel (Nobody Knows), and filmed vignettes based on the comic -- using her EP as background music for the short films.

This kind of frantic juggling is second nature to Edgley: Her list of skills includes dance, singing, martial arts, trapeze and fire twirling.

"It's been amazing," she said. "It's been really good to learn how to put my writer's cap on and following my passion into directing and producing and creating projects that, really, I'm very passionate about.  It's been very exciting."

(The rest of the interview is here, in this video:)

Flashback Friday: 'Hitchhiker' journeys to syndication

From Wikipedia

(Once upon a time, I did a telephone interview with Lewis Chesler, creator of "The Hitchhiker," as the show moved from HBO to syndication (and got edited to a PG version in the process). This story was published in The News Herald on Dec. 6, 1995.)

The darkness is within us all, waiting for the right temptation — the particular provocation — that will allow us to damn ourselves.

The idea that evil is internal — not an external force — is the driving concept behind The Hitchhiker, a cable anthology series that is now available to local channels through the magic of syndication.

According to series creator/executive producer Lewis Chesler, the true nature of evil is best revealed through "conflicts within ourselves."

"With The Hitchhiker, we wanted to bring a level of psychological suspense that had not been present in mainstream television to that point," Chesler said. "The projection of that anxiety, psycho-erotic in a way, made for real engaging stories."

A dramatic, half-hour suspense series reminiscent of Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone, The Hitchhiker thumbed his way to 85 episodes, becoming the longest-running original dramatic series in cable TV history.

Hitchhiker first debuted in 1984 as Home Box Office's first dramatic series. Since then, it has won eight ACE Awards, delivered record-setting ratings for a cable series and paved the way for numerous imitators.

"In the '50s, science fiction was very popular, and people used it as an allegory of fears about communism and so on, manifesting `The Other' as people from outer space," Chesler said.

"I think today we also have anxieties and fears about what is within us, that subverts us," he said. "And as we approach the millennium, more people are realizing that we are more complex than we knew — that life is more ambiguous and paradoxical than we knew."

Using an anthology format to present "morality plays," each episode is introduced by the enigmatic Hitchhiker, played by Page Fletcher. When he appears, strange things follow: tales of greed, jealousy and the supernatural, that end in ironic twists of fate.

"He's a witness, not an avenging angel. He never interacts and he has an omniscience," Chesler said. "We chose the figure of a hitchhiker for two reasons: He represents the allure of freedom, the ability to transgress and break the boundaries, but he also represents danger and the unknown. He has that duality within him in that his behavior is not clear-cut — it's elusive."

The use of top movie and television talents is one of the reasons Hitchhiker has endured while hundreds of other cable-made series have faded to black. A number of major film directors, actors and writers were involved in the series.

Chesler is now working on Strangers, an HBO series he calls "the sequel" to The Hitchhiker. The pilot, shot two years ago in Paris, was directed by Wayne Wang (The Joy Luck Club), and features Linda Fiorentino, Tim Hutton and Joan Chen. The series will debut in January of 1996.

"The stories are about the American encounter with the mysterious `other.' They're like half-hour Last Tangoes in Paris, about Americans who go abroad and are on uncertain ground," Chesler said. "They're kind of dark, erotic, psychologically dense, very European."

Flashback Friday: Garibaldi on the Firing Line

(Once upon a time, I did a telephone interview with Jerry Doyle, who was at that time playing Security Chief Michael Garibaldi on the sydicated sci-fi series Babylon 5. The following originally published in the Sept. 8, 1995 edition of the News Herald.)

Jerry Doyle shares many of the character traits — and flaws — of Security Chief Michael Garibaldi, the role he portrays on the syndicated sci-fi drama Babylon 5.

Both men have high standards, are outspoken and audacious, and both have a murky past. Both men sometimes take a side door to reach their targets, and neither man is above a little scheming if it produces the right results.

"I think a lot of acting is just life experiences, reality brought into a situation and interpreted," Doyle said.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Doyle received a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautics from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona. His first job was marketing and selling corporate jets in New Jersey, but he never really wanted to leave college.

"I was having too much fun," he said. "It was a surprise when it happened. My wife and I have fond memories of the (Fort) Lauderdale area, and a dream of when we can get this great big ol' sprawling place on the water and just go sailing."

Doyle left a nine-year Wall Street career in 1990 to try his luck in Hollywood. He had endured the October market crash, company problems, daily pressure and what he termed an ambush from 60 Minutes. The place just wasn't fun any more.

"When 60 Minutes walks into your office, you know the day isn't going to go the way you expected," he said.

To get an acting job in L.A., Doyle needed a performance resume. But he had never acted before and "stocks, bonds and hostile takeovers" just wouldn't look good to casting directors. So he fudged a bit on his resume, creating a fictitious credit with the Harlem Dance Theatre.

"I didn't bend the rules — they snapped. I put a lie in there so blatant that I thought people would get the joke. If anybody had ever 'seen' them, there was a real good possibility that I wasn't touring with that group," Doyle said.

"In 4-1/2 years, nobody's ever questioned it," he said. "It's still on there, as my tribute to absurdity."

That side-door route landed him roles on The Bold and the Beautiful, Homefront, Reasonable Doubt, and Duckman.

Then came Babylon 5.

A COP'S LIFE

Garibaldi is a man with flaws. A recovering alcoholic who's lost more jobs than he can recall; who's lost at love more often than not; who's burned all his bridges and has nowhere to turn if things go wrong on B-5.

"We're all trying to overcome our demons," Doyle said. "We may conquer technology, cure diseases, but we're always working on ourselves. It's what the audience hopefully can relate to."

As Garibaldi, Doyle has turned a supporting role into the show's most popular character. A recent three-issue story in the B-5 comics adaptation focused entirely on Garibaldi, as did two recent novels. Doyle has also gained an international fan following, thanks to the show's popularity overseas.

In an integral first-season episode, Garibaldi has a vision of a future battle in which he and the station commander are trying to hold off unseen attackers while civilians evacuate B-5. Garibaldi volunteers to cover the retreat, yelling that this is the moment for which he was born.

"Yeah, a lot of people have said that they know what happens to me in the future," Doyle said. "But they're talking about a spin-off series (if B-5 lasts through its projected five-year mission). I was given the option of wrapping up my storyline or going on to the new show. I'm not going to tell you what I decided."

The role of space cop comes easily to Doyle, whose father was a career police officer in New York (his mother worked at home). His father provided a good life for the family, and put off his own joys for later in life. But he died at 41, having never done the things he dreamed of doing.

"I didn't want that to happen to me," Doyle said.

And yet, foremost in Doyle's thoughts are his family and the future he can provide for them. He said L.A. isn't the kind of place to raise kids, so he wants to "grab as much as I can as fast as I can, punch out and go where the air's nice."

He would like nothing better than to be able to "wear shorts, drink beer and take people fishing," activities he said defines the Florida vacation/retirement lifestyle.

But until then, he won't be waiting for projects to come his way. He's co-written two scripts, is developing a feature film, a TV movie-of-the-week and an old-fashioned Christmas special.

"I would love to be involved in a product that lives on ... something that's timeless, like a Casablanca," he said. "And I'd like to do a pirate movie. I think that would be way cool."
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(NOTE: The interview was accompanied by this sidebar that included more comments from Doyle:)
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Babylon 5 Info Guide

The Babylon Project was our last, best hope for peace. It was the dawn of the Third Age of Mankind, the year the Great War came upon us all. The year is 2259. The name of the place is Babylon 5.

Two years before Paramount launched its space station-based Trek spinoff, television veteran J. Michael Straczinsky had tried to sell a network on his vision of just such a series:

--The space station Babylon 5 would be a hotbed of mystery, suspense and intrigue, where humans and aliens would scheme and struggle and join together in unexpected alliances.

--As forces behind the scenes plotted to seize control of the Earth government, a dark presence from a forgotten time would rise to challenge the champions of all things good and just.

--And in the third year of the series, a war of intergalactic proportions would erupt, and humankind would face its darkest hour.

No network nibbled, but Warner Brothers gave the concept a greenlight for first-run syndication.

In the ensuing years, B-5 has opened new frontiers in TV sci-fi. That pivotal third year is now upon us, when the galaxy's "last, best hope for peace" becomes its "last, best hope for victory."

In the meantime, B-5 has garnered an Emmy award for visual effects and Emmy nominations for make-up, hair and cinematography. It was nominated for a Hugo award from the World Science Fiction Association and received The Space Frontier Foundation Award for Best Vision of the Future from the National Association of Space Scientists, Astronauts and Engineers.

Though syndicated in the U.S., B-5 is carried on TV networks in other countries. In Great Britain, for instance, the show has developed a cult following similar to the Star Trek phenomenon.

"It's huge, like the No. 2 or No. 3 show in England, Ireland, France and Italy," said Jerry Doyle, who plays B-5 Security Chief Michael Garibaldi. "I'm going to Bristol in August and Dublin in September (for fan conventions)."

But unlike most television series, Straczynski saw B-5 as a complete story with a definite ending five years after the premiere. Each episode would be like a chapter of a book, each season would be a volume in the continuing story.

The show has also done something few series have accomplished: B-5 lost its hero and most integral character at the close of the first season.

Commander Jeffrey Sinclair (Michael O'Hare) appeared only as a face on a recorded message in season two, although a first-season episode revealed him to be "The One" who, in the future (or the distant past), will lead the forces of light against the Shadows.

The future Sinclair, in fact, was responsible for the mysterious disappearance of B-5's predecessor, Babylon 4 — snatching it out of the past via a time travel device for use as a base of operations against the dark enemy.

"I don't know what they're going to do with that character. We just try to play the beats as they're written out," Doyle said. "There's a strong possibility that (Sinclair) will resurface this season -- but whether it will be to start a new storyline, to finish a storyline, or as another recorded message, I really don't know."

To put it mildly, the show is complex and multi-layered. Characters change over time, literally evolving into new forms and revealing new facets of their personalities. Subplots that seemed minor grow into major plot points.

Psy-Corps telepaths jockey for political control; Home Guard bigots beat up aliens and want Earth out of space; the assassination of the Earth president is covered up; the mysterious Shadows aid a race war as another alien power grooms the new B-5 commander (Bruce Boxleitner) to battle the Shadows; and, behind the scenes, Sinclair gathers a secret army of "Rangers."

The Great War is upon us. And all eyes turn to Babylon 5.

Flashback Friday: Jurasik's Spark

(Once upon a time, I interviewed actor Peter Jurasik about his role on Babylon 5 as the alien ambassador from Centaruri Prime, Londo Molari. He was at times jovial and introspective, but mostly it was apparent he enjoyed his work and the people with whom he worked. This was published Oct. 18, 1996, as B-5 was ending its third season of syndication and Jurasik was already working on Season 4.)

Get past the gravity-defying hair and the thick Bela Lugosi accent, and the essence of Londo Molari, Centauri Prime's ambassador to space station Babylon 5, is really quite human.

On a recent October morning, actor Peter Jurasik — who breathes life into Londo for fans of B-5 — talked with The News Herald from his California home, commenting on the autumnal weather, the evolution of his TV character and an upcoming book release.

As the interview began, Jurasik was interrupted by a phone call from fellow B-5 cast member Bill Mumy (formerly Will Robinson of Lost in Space). Mumy wanted to play a round of racquetball, but Jurasik had tickets to the Dodgers-Braves game.

The exchange brings home the fact that these guys are just regular folks. And yet, for the entertainment of thousands of fans world-wide, they're seen as enemies on a galactic scale, their actions determining the fate of worlds.

Babylon 5 follows the activities aboard a massive space station in the 23rd century, located in deep space where a quarter-million aliens and humans mingle to work out their differences. But earth's government is reeling from civil war, corruption at the highest levels, and the return of an ancient Shadow race that seeks conquest among the stars.

Londo, long considered a washed-up politician in a backwater assignment, has emerged as a major player in the conflict — and on the wrong side.

Jurasik says the role was a perfect fit for his needs as a character actor.

"Initially, when I went in to read for the part, we had a short chat and I asked (B-5 creator Joe Straczinski what he'd like for these people to sound like. He said, 'These guys are from outer space. They can sound any way you want them to.' Which is great for a character actor. Character actors will inevitably put on a wig or an accent or a costume, and I've done all of that."

Jurasik has appeared in numerous TV incarnations over the past 20 years, including a memorable turn as sleazy "Sid the Snitch" on Hill Street Blues. He's also appeared on Dear John, L.A. Law, MASH, Taxi and Dave's World.

Picking up the theme of change, Jurasik says circumstances have either "conspired or inspired" Londo to great personal changes. His drive to restore the lost glory of his homeworld led him to bargain with a shadowy alien race for greater power and influence.

"I hate to go '90s on you, but his priorities have changed. Four years ago, when we first met Londo, he was pretty buffoonish, pretty much a drunk. But there was an underlying bitterness, almost an anger, black and biley. He's always been very concerned about his people. So the change, for me, tracks very well."

If that sounds like the kind of evolution that real people experience, then B-5 has accomplished something few other sci-fi shows attempt: to allow characters to grow. Similar shows generally present self-contained stories that always leave the characters pretty much at status quo. Miss an episode or two and you'll still recognize the characters. Not B-5.

"With Babylon, you will get some satisfaction by watching one episode. We have great special effects, exciting storylines. But the real hook is the big story arc. I think that's what has really grabbed the imagination of English fans, the Dickensian tradition. It's something that's just not emphasized on American television."

Meanwhile, Jurasik has recently completed his first sci-fi novel, Diplomatic Act, (from Simon & Schuster//Baen Books, spring 1997) which takes a sardonic look at Hollywood and contains more than a few veiled references to the set of B-5.

"What do I know more about than that? It's about an actor working on a science fiction show playing a diplomat, who is abducted by aliens because he reminds them of somebody. They are from this `watcher' society, and are intrigued by TV."

Regular B-5 viewers (and alien watchers) will know that Londo has had a vision of his death — and a time travel episode last season reinforced this vision. But Jurasik hints that the future is malleable.

"It's not really a cop-out, but it's the out all the actors use, at least on our show. Joe Straczynski is really The Great Maker, and he indicates to us that these dreams and prophecies are just that — it doesn't necessarily mean they will come true."

Now beginning its fourth season, B-5 was plotted as a five-year storyline. But Jurasik, dangling a bit of intrigue, said his character may not even survive to the series finale.

"I have always taken the line that I think audiences like to have happy endings. I don't know that Joe will subscribe to that, at least in Londo's case. I mean, he's made some heavy mistakes and will have to pay for those. He's in a fight for his people in the fourth season, and he'll have to come to terms with the `deal with the devil' he made. Those things will have to be straightened out."

Flashback Friday: Robin Curtis beams down

(Once upon a time, I interviewed actress Robin Curtis prior to her visit for a small sci-fi convention in Panama City. The actress was best known to me as the second "Lt. Saavik," having taken the role over in Star Trek movies 3 and 4. She was fun to talk to, very open and uninhibited, the polar opposite of her half-Vulcan character. This article is dated Friday, Feb. 24, 1995, meaning it went to press on Feb. 23.)

'Trek' star to appear at local Trek-O-Rama

Her face may not be familiar at first — minus the characteristic pointed ears and arching eyebrows — and her effervescent personality would embarrass her repressed Vulcan counterpart.

But Bay County Star Trek fans will be pleased by the person beneath the makeup as they get the chance to mind-meld with Robin Curtis — "Saavik" from the third and fourth Trek films — at the Trek-O-Rama convention.

"I enjoy (conventions) so much, but I haven't done one in a while, so I'm a little rusty," Curtis said in a telephone interview from her California home Tuesday evening.

Self-described as "effusive, expressive and full-of-life," it wasn't easy for someone like Curtis to play a coldly logical Vulcan.

"I spill all over everybody, excitement leaks from every pore," Curtis said. "(The fans) realize how difficult that must have been for me."

Curtis took over the role of Saavik after Kirstie Alley (of Cheers) had played the part in Star Trek II. Curtis said her status as a replacement was never an issue among the cast or the fans.

"It's interesting how, in life, the obvious problems are the ones that never materialize," she said. "The fans appreciate me for me."

Her role was pared down in the fourth Trek to give more screen time to the ensemble of original players. She said that was fine with her because that group of actors deserved the attention.

"My association with Star Trek has been nothing but beneficial, really. To think I'm still generating income from a job 11 years ago is astonishing," she said.

According to Curtis, her body of work could only be considered "a career" if it were put together with "some paste and Duco cement." Star Trek conventions — she appeared at 17 of them last year — have helped pay the rent.

"I've kind of let fans in on the fact that actors spend most of their time unemployed or looking for work," she said. "And they have let me in on what I have become a small part of."

The positive message behind Trek — that the future is bright and full of adventure — took Curtis a while to comprehend. She had never been a real Trek fan before landing the Saavik role, but has since immersed herself in the lore of future history.

"Who knows why the hell these things come to us? I'm just pleased to be part of something I consider to be a good thing," Curtis said. "I like what I've learned and how these people think. I hate to stereotype, but on the whole, I find the fans to be interesting, thoughtful, fun-loving people."

Curtis compares favorably her experiences on the movie sets with those on the set of Star Trek: The Next Generation, in which she guest-starred as a Romulan spy.

"It's viscerally very much the same," she said. "Star Trek is very stylized. The pace is slower and more thoughtful than most TV. There's that upright, military stance, straight as a beam right up your butt."

Curtis catches some good-natured ribbing for her stint hosting an infomercial for the Braun Handblender, but she doesn't apologize for blatant hucksterism. After all, in some ways, that's what conventions cater to.

"As long as it doesn't go up an orifice, we'll sell it," she said. "Actually, I wish I had a nickel for every one they sold (through the infomercial). Sales quadrupled and they renewed my contract for another year."

Curtis also has made a few commercials recently, but she hopes infomercials don't become her bread and butter.

"I'm hoping I haven't found my niche. That's not the goal, here, but I do thank God I'm capable of doing these kinds of things and maintaining a modicum of integrity," she said. "Work begets work."

During the interview, her new agent interrupted to tell her Dove Books wants her to do another science fiction book-on-tape reading for them — a job that no doubt came her way because of her Star Trek recognition value.

"It never stops. It never ceases to amaze me," she said. "Star Trek is like this monster machine that just won't stop."